dog

This fun, interesting, and lavishly illustrated book tells the stories of approximately 50 animals that have played crucial roles in human history. Chaline’s fascinating essay topics range from the history of oyster-raising to the essential role of the horse. Humans are the subject of the final essay, which includes a warning that we are our own worst enemy. Each animal is classed among four categories as “Edible, Medicinal, Commercial, and/or Practical" (a dog-loving reader might quibble with the idea of modern housecats being considered “practical”).

Krazy Kat was a well-known American comic strip which ran from 1913 to 1944, written by George Herriman. The premise, a carefree and quirky love triangle of sorts, nearly always put Krazy Kat in the line of fire of Ignatz the mouse, who often found himself at odds with the police dog, Offisa Pupp. The antics in the Krazy Kat comic were always set against a desert landscape, inspired by the vistas at the author's summer house in Arizona.